Authoritative tome traces 25 years of supercomputers

14 January 2010

NCF and SARA celebrate 25 years of supercomputing in the Netherlands

This is a joint press release by NWO-NCF and SARA

De Rekenmeesters, een toekomstgericht beeld van 25 jaar grootschalig rekenen in Nederland (The Supercomputers, 25 years of large-scale computing in the Netherlands, with an eye to the future) offers an insight into everything to do with supercomputers. This comprehensive volume is a joint publication by the National Computing Facilities Foundation and SARA Computing and Networking Services. In something over 300 pages, the book describes the complete history of the national supercomputer service and explores the significance of supercomputers for the scientific community in the Netherlands. NCF and SARA launched the book at the 25th SARA Superday.

The book, The Supercomputers, 25 years of large-scale computing in the Netherlands, with an eye to the future explains what supercomputers are, how they are used, how they operate and how they are installed and maintained. It offers an insight into the policy, architecture, usefulness and necessity of supercomputers for Dutch science and the knowledge-based economy of the Netherlands.

The significance of supercomputers

There have been supercomputers for more than 25 years, but just over 25 years ago, in 1984, the first 'national supercomputer' was commissioned at SARA. Any scientist with a well-reasoned proposal could and still can use the national supercomputer via NCF. SARA is responsible for the system management and for supporting the hundreds of Dutch scientists who use the system.

In a wide range of disciplines, developments can only be made through the use of supercomputers. These include climate research, meteorology, astronomy, and the aerodynamics of aircraft and cars, but also things like the development of home detergents. NCF and SARA cement the position of the national supercomputing service in the Netherlands in The Supercomputers, and also look ahead to the future of supercomputing in this country.

Patrick Aerts, Director of NCF, says 'The book makes it clear how valuable the supercomputer infrastructure has been and continues to be in the Netherlands. This is why we want to take a step towards being a top player in Europe, in the interests of Dutch science, society and the economy. This is also why we continue to complement the developments in the major European countries and the USA. It was, therefore, very gratifying to learn on 18 December 2009 that the Dutch Government supports the Netherlands securing one of the next generation of European supercomputers.'

Anwar Osseyran, Director of SARA, comments 'The future of science and the economy in the world we know – where the speed of innovation and technical advances makes all the difference – is increasingly being determined by the extent of our knowledge of supercomputing, its infrastructure and services. Wim Nieuwpoort was arguing this case as long ago as 1981, in the CRIVA report.'

The directors of both organisations presented the first two copies of the book to Professor Jos Engelen, Chairman of the Governing Board of NWO, and Willem te Beest, Chairman of the Board of SURF, during the silver anniversary celebration of the SARA Superday.

The book

Title: De Rekenmeesters, een toekomstgericht beeld van 25 jaar grootschalig rekenen in Nederland
ISBN: 978-90-77875-50-6
Hard cover, bound, 311 pages
Editor in chief: Peter Michielse (NCF)
Available from NCF by e-mail ncf@nwo.nl, while stocks last.

NCF

NCF is an independent foundation under the umbrella of the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO). The Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO) is the principal Dutch science funding body and its mission is to facilitate excellent scientific research in the Netherlands by means of national competition. Each year NWO spends more than 700 million euro on grants for top researchers, on innovative instruments and equipment, and on institutes where top research is performed. NCF is responsible for the high-end computing infrastructure for academic and public research institutions in the Netherlands.

SARA

SARA Computing and Networking Services is the national supercomputing and grid service centre. SARA is one of the most important IT supernodes in Europe and a Tier 1 centre for CERN. SARA supports scientific researchers in the use of the national IT research infrastructure. This includes expert user support, optimisation, parallelisation and hyperscaling of user codes, visualisation and data analysis of complex data sets, adaptation of systems and applications for grid applications, support for Grand Challenge applications and the provision of e-Science support.

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last modified on 7 April 2010